opening 2007 .msg in 2000/XP

[Erik]

At work we are using various Office versions on our workstations(ws). Most
have 2003 or XP, some have 2000 , and a couple new ws have 2007. History of
all messages are stored on a central server, and these messages are placed
here manually by each individual using drag and drop (drag from the inbox and
drop to the server harddrive folder). Problem is that it seems that messages
dropped from a 2007 ws (which have the same old .msg file extension) cannot
be opened by our 2000 ws, but can be opened by all 2003 ws. Does anyone have
experience with how to resolve this problem? Is it a compatibility issue?

Operating systems on all workstations is XP Professional.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Yes, Outlook 2003 and 2007 use UNICODE instead of ANSI which is being used
in previous versions of Outlook. Your admin can force Outlook 2003 and 2007
to use ANSI as well for backward compatibility by Group Policies.

For more info on Group Policies see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/policies.htm

 

[Erik]

Thank you for you help so far! Everything was as you stated it would be.

I was able to, after installing the 2007 templates from your webpage, find a
setting under the following:

console root\local computer policy\user configuration\administrative
templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Miscellaneous\PST Settings

And found the following:

Preferred PST mode (Unicode/ANSI) not configured

I set it to "enabled" and then set "enforce ANSI".

After restarting, and then tried copying an email from the 2007 workstation
to the server, and the file is still unreadable by older workstations. In
other words, I still have the problem. Is there another policy that I am
having trouble finding that is specifically for MSG files, or does the PST
policy cover MSG files as well?

I must have missed something.

Yes, Outlook 2003 and 2007 use UNICODE instead of ANSI which is being used
in previous versions of Outlook. Your admin can force Outlook 2003 and 2007
to use ANSI as well for backward compatibility by Group Policies.

For more info on Group Policies see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/policies.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----

At work we are using various Office versions on our workstations(ws).
Most
have 2003 or XP, some have 2000 , and a couple new ws have 2007. History
of
all messages are stored on a central server, and these messages are placed
here manually by each individual using drag and drop (drag from the inbox
and
drop to the server harddrive folder). Problem is that it seems that
messages
dropped from a 2007 ws (which have the same old .msg file extension)
cannot
be opened by our 2000 ws, but can be opened by all 2003 ws. Does anyone
have
experience with how to resolve this problem? Is it a compatibility issue?

Operating systems on all workstations is XP Professional.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Erik]

Hey I found the following, although it applies in this case to Outlook 2003
the link is here,

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011402611033.aspx

And scrolling all the way down, I found this:

Using Unicode format for Outlook messages dragged to the desktop

When you use the Microsoft Windows® drag-and-drop feature to drag an Outlook
item to the Windows desktop, the format of the file that is automatically
created is Unicode by default. You can configure a default option by using
the Custom Installation Wizard to use ANSI for the message format instead of
Unicode.

To use Unicode format for message files that are dragged to the desktop from
Outlook

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Change Office User Settings
page, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
2. Under Tools | Options\Other\Advanced, double-click MSG Unicode format
when dragging to file system.
3. Click the Apply Changes radio button.
4. Clear the Check to set messages as Unicode format. Uncheck for ANSI.
check box.
5. Click OK.

Note If you drag an Outlook item into the body of a message that you are
composing when using Microsoft Office Word 2003 as your e-mail editor, the
format of the item will be ANSI regardless of the setting specified in the
MSG Unicode format when dragging to file system policy. However, if you drag
the item to the Attachments box in the message instead, the file format
policy will be followed.

Thank you for you help so far! Everything was as you stated it would be.

I was able to, after installing the 2007 templates from your webpage, find a
setting under the following:

console root\local computer policy\user configuration\administrative
templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Miscellaneous\PST Settings

And found the following:

Preferred PST mode (Unicode/ANSI) not configured

I set it to "enabled" and then set "enforce ANSI".

After restarting, and then tried copying an email from the 2007 workstation
to the server, and the file is still unreadable by older workstations. In
other words, I still have the problem. Is there another policy that I am
having trouble finding that is specifically for MSG files, or does the PST
policy cover MSG files as well?

I must have missed something.

Yes, Outlook 2003 and 2007 use UNICODE instead of ANSI which is being used
in previous versions of Outlook. Your admin can force Outlook 2003 and 2007
to use ANSI as well for backward compatibility by Group Policies.

For more info on Group Policies see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/policies.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----

At work we are using various Office versions on our workstations(ws).
Most
have 2003 or XP, some have 2000 , and a couple new ws have 2007. History
of
all messages are stored on a central server, and these messages are placed
here manually by each individual using drag and drop (drag from the inbox
and
drop to the server harddrive folder). Problem is that it seems that
messages
dropped from a 2007 ws (which have the same old .msg file extension)
cannot
be opened by our 2000 ws, but can be opened by all 2003 ws. Does anyone
have
experience with how to resolve this problem? Is it a compatibility issue?

Operating systems on all workstations is XP Professional.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Erik]

Ok I fixed it, and the solution was rather easy.

Opened Outlook 2007

Went to Tools>Options>(tab)Other>(button)Advanced Options>

Unchecked "Use Unicode message format when saving messages"

It works. Office 2000/XP workstations can now open the file saved at the
Outlook 2007 workstation.

Hey I found the following, although it applies in this case to Outlook 2003
the link is here,

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011402611033.aspx

And scrolling all the way down, I found this:

Using Unicode format for Outlook messages dragged to the desktop

When you use the Microsoft Windows® drag-and-drop feature to drag an Outlook
item to the Windows desktop, the format of the file that is automatically
created is Unicode by default. You can configure a default option by using
the Custom Installation Wizard to use ANSI for the message format instead of
Unicode.

To use Unicode format for message files that are dragged to the desktop from
Outlook

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Change Office User Settings
page, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
2. Under Tools | Options\Other\Advanced, double-click MSG Unicode format
when dragging to file system.
3. Click the Apply Changes radio button.
4. Clear the Check to set messages as Unicode format. Uncheck for ANSI.
check box.
5. Click OK.

Note If you drag an Outlook item into the body of a message that you are
composing when using Microsoft Office Word 2003 as your e-mail editor, the
format of the item will be ANSI regardless of the setting specified in the
MSG Unicode format when dragging to file system policy. However, if you drag
the item to the Attachments box in the message instead, the file format
policy will be followed.

Thank you for you help so far! Everything was as you stated it would be.

I was able to, after installing the 2007 templates from your webpage, find a
setting under the following:

console root\local computer policy\user configuration\administrative
templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Miscellaneous\PST Settings

And found the following:

Preferred PST mode (Unicode/ANSI) not configured

I set it to "enabled" and then set "enforce ANSI".

After restarting, and then tried copying an email from the 2007 workstation
to the server, and the file is still unreadable by older workstations. In
other words, I still have the problem. Is there another policy that I am
having trouble finding that is specifically for MSG files, or does the PST
policy cover MSG files as well?

I must have missed something.

Yes, Outlook 2003 and 2007 use UNICODE instead of ANSI which is being used
in previous versions of Outlook. Your admin can force Outlook 2003 and 2007
to use ANSI as well for backward compatibility by Group Policies.

For more info on Group Policies see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/policies.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----
At work we are using various Office versions on our workstations(ws).
Most
have 2003 or XP, some have 2000 , and a couple new ws have 2007. History
of
all messages are stored on a central server, and these messages are placed
here manually by each individual using drag and drop (drag from the inbox
and
drop to the server harddrive folder). Problem is that it seems that
messages
dropped from a 2007 ws (which have the same old .msg file extension)
cannot
be opened by our 2000 ws, but can be opened by all 2003 ws. Does anyone
have
experience with how to resolve this problem? Is it a compatibility issue?

Operating systems on all workstations is XP Professional.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Cool! Good to hear you've got it solved!

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----

Ok I fixed it, and the solution was rather easy.

Opened Outlook 2007

Went to Tools>Options>(tab)Other>(button)Advanced Options>

Unchecked "Use Unicode message format when saving messages"

It works. Office 2000/XP workstations can now open the file saved at the
Outlook 2007 workstation.

Hey I found the following, although it applies in this case to Outlook
2003
the link is here,

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011402611033.aspx

And scrolling all the way down, I found this:

Using Unicode format for Outlook messages dragged to the desktop

When you use the Microsoft Windows® drag-and-drop feature to drag an
Outlook
item to the Windows desktop, the format of the file that is automatically
created is Unicode by default. You can configure a default option by
using
the Custom Installation Wizard to use ANSI for the message format instead
of
Unicode.

To use Unicode format for message files that are dragged to the desktop
from
Outlook

1. In the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Change Office User
Settings
page, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
2. Under Tools | Options\Other\Advanced, double-click MSG Unicode
format
when dragging to file system.
3. Click the Apply Changes radio button.
4. Clear the Check to set messages as Unicode format. Uncheck for
ANSI.
check box.
5. Click OK.

Note If you drag an Outlook item into the body of a message that you
are
composing when using Microsoft Office Word 2003 as your e-mail editor,
the
format of the item will be ANSI regardless of the setting specified in
the
MSG Unicode format when dragging to file system policy. However, if you
drag
the item to the Attachments box in the message instead, the file format
policy will be followed.

Thank you for you help so far! Everything was as you stated it would
be.

I was able to, after installing the 2007 templates from your webpage,
find a
setting under the following:

console root\local computer policy\user configuration\administrative
templates\Microsoft Office Outlook 2007\Miscellaneous\PST Settings

And found the following:

Preferred PST mode (Unicode/ANSI) not configured

I set it to "enabled" and then set "enforce ANSI".

After restarting, and then tried copying an email from the 2007
workstation
to the server, and the file is still unreadable by older workstations.
In
other words, I still have the problem. Is there another policy that I
am
having trouble finding that is specifically for MSG files, or does the
PST
policy cover MSG files as well?

I must have missed something.

:

Yes, Outlook 2003 and 2007 use UNICODE instead of ANSI which is being
used
in previous versions of Outlook. Your admin can force Outlook 2003
and 2007
to use ANSI as well for backward compatibility by Group Policies.

For more info on Group Policies see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/policies.htm

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.howto-outlook.com/
Outlook FAQ, HowTo, Downloads, Add-Ins and more

-----
At work we are using various Office versions on our
workstations(ws).
Most
have 2003 or XP, some have 2000 , and a couple new ws have 2007.
History
of
all messages are stored on a central server, and these messages are
placed
here manually by each individual using drag and drop (drag from the
inbox
and
drop to the server harddrive folder). Problem is that it seems
that
messages
dropped from a 2007 ws (which have the same old .msg file
extension)
cannot
be opened by our 2000 ws, but can be opened by all 2003 ws. Does
anyone
have
experience with how to resolve this problem? Is it a compatibility
issue?

Operating systems on all workstations is XP Professional.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Ok I fixed it, and the solution was rather easy.

Opened Outlook 2007

Went to Tools>Options>(tab)Other>(button)Advanced Options>

Unchecked "Use Unicode message format when saving messages"

Google Groups is your friend. From August 22, 2005 in this very newsgroup:
<http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.outlook.general/msg/3ac0ff7c612c06f1>